A Nobel Prize-winning doctor, a noted Irish poet, a media mogul, a former president of Ireland and five professors from Harvard and Yale are this year's nine honorary degree recipients.
The degrees, which will be announced at this morning's Commencement Ceremony, are conferred by President Neil L. Rudenstine to distinguished leaders in areas ranging from politics to literature.
This year, honorary degrees will be awarded to: Samuel H. Beer, Robert A. Dahl, Gertrude B. Elion, Seamus J. Heaney, John H. Johnson, Jaroslav Pelikan, Mary Robinson, Henry Rosovsky and Jean-Pierre Serre.
The degree recipients were honored at a dinner last night at Annenberg Hall, which featured smoked salmon and noisettes of lamb with merlot sauce.
Samuel H. Beer
Beer, a long-time Harvard professor and recipient of the Harvard University Centennial Medal, has been an active participant in U.S. politics for many years. He served as the national chair of Americans for Democratic Action, the nation's oldest liberal lobbying group, from 1959 to 1962.
A graduate of University of Michigan, Beer has worked with several U.S. Presidents, including former Crimson president Franklin D. Roosevelt '04 and President Clinton.
Beer, who has written numerous works on British politics, retired from Harvard's government department in 1981. He will receive a Doctorate of Laws.
Robert A. Dahl
Though he spent more than 40 years teaching political science at Yale University, Dahl will accept an honorary degree from Harvard this morning.
A two-time Woodrow Wilson Award recipient for his works in political theory, his ideas have reshaped thinking on the topics of democracy and political economy.
Dahl, who retired from Yale in 1986, will receive a Doctorate of Laws.
Gertrude B. Elion
A doctor whose drug research helped to save the lives of countless leukemia patients and earned her a One of only 10 women who have been awarded aNobel Prize in science, Elion furtherdistinguished herself by being one of only ahandful to do so without a Ph.D. Elion did much of her research atpharmaceutical giant Glaxo Wellcome, where shehelped develop a drug that prevents the body fromrejecting foreign tissue, aiding kidneytransplants. She was also a professor at Duke University. Seamus J. Heaney Heaney's poetry has taken him from his boyhoodhome in County Derry, Northern Ireland, to Oxfordand most recently to Harvard, where he served asBoylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory untillast year. Heaney was awarded a Nobel Prize in Literaturein 1995 and Britain's Whitbread Award two yearslater. Much of his work reflects the troubledpolitical and social situation of his homeland. Heaney will receive a doctorate of laws. John H. Johnson The head of a publishing empire with more than11 million readers, Johnson was awarded thePresidential Medal of Freedom in 1996. Johnson is chair of Johnson Publishing Company,which publishes Ebony magazine--the most highlycirculated periodical centered on blackissues--along with Jet magazine and Ebony SouthAfrica, his latest venture. Johnson, who started his first magazine, NegroDigest, at the age of 24 with a $500 loan, isactive in charities including the United NegroCollege Fund and Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Today he receives a doctorate of laws. Jaroslav Pelikan Another senior Yale professor, Pelikan hasstudied Christianity and the history of theChristian Church for more than half a century. His mammoth five-volume study, The ChristianTradition, is a seminal work in the field. Pelikan is a member of President Clinton'sCommittee on the Arts and Humanities and wasappointed Jefferson Lecturer by the NationalEndowment for the Humanities in 1983. The doctorate of laws he receives today will beone of more than 30 honorary degrees he hasreceived throughout his distinguished career. Mary Robinson Today's Commencement speaker, Robinson was thefirst woman elected president of Ireland. She wasalso the first candidate to be elected presidentfrom small, underdog Labor Party. Robinson popularized the Irish presidency byworld travels and constant interactions with theIrish people. Robinson received a masters of law from HarvardLaw School in 1968 and a year later became theyoungest professor of law in the history ofTrinity College in Dublin. A stalwart champion of human rights and women'sequality, Robinson currently serves as UnitedNations High Commissioner for Human Rights. She will receive a doctorate of laws. Henry Rosovsky A former member of the Corporation, dean of theFaculty and professor at Harvard, Rosovsky willadd one more title to his list of Harvard honorstoday when he receives a doctorate of laws. During his tenure as dean of the Faculty,Rosovsky spearheaded reform of Harvard'sundergraduate requirements, resulting in thedevelopment of the Core Curriculum. Rosovsky waswidely believed to be a candidate to replace DerekC. Bok as president of Harvard--a positionultimately filled by Rudenstine. Rosovsky turned down an offer to becomepresident of Yale University while dean of theFaculty. He has served as chair of the Board ofTrustees of the American Jewish Congress. Rosovsky's work in economics and Japanesestudies earned him the Order of the SacredTreasure, conferred by the Emperor of Japan in1988. Jean-Pierre Serre All who have seen the movie Good WillHunting are familiar with the Fields Medal,the highest honor available to academics in thefield of mathematics. But Serre is no fictional genius. He receivedthe medal in 1954 for his work on spectralsequences and complex variable theory involvingsheaves. Since then, he has taught at Harvard andthe College de France. His three-volume collected papers, published in1986, earned him praise and admiration frommathematicians across the world. Today he receivesa doctorate of science. --Rosalind S. Helderman, Rachel P. Kovnerand Scott A. Resnick contributed to the reportingof this story.
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